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Pinterest Pin Design: Anatomy of the Perfect Pinterest Pin

April 28, 2022 by Simplifying DIY Design Leave a Comment

Last updated on April 20th, 2024

Are you struggling with establishing a Pinterest pin design? Between the updates with Idea pins and the push for fresh pins, creating the perfect pin design isn’t as easy as it once was. Fortunately, designing pins can be quick, easy, and fun with the right Pinterest design tips!

This is a guest post by Domitille of Mademoiselle Social. See the end of the article for more information about her, her company, and how you can create the perfect Pinterest pin design!

Let’s see how you can create a click-worthy Pinterest pin design and get more people to click on them by breaking down the anatomy of the perfect Pinterest pin.

Table of Contents

1 HOW DO YOU CREATE A PIN FOR PINTEREST?
2 THE TWO TYPES OF PINTEREST PINS YOU CAN USE
3 WHAT MAKES A GOOD PIN ON PINTEREST?
4 WRAP UP

HOW DO YOU CREATE A PIN FOR PINTEREST?

Before we dive in, let’s take a look at the different methods you can use to create a Pinterest pin.

As of 2024, there are three ways you can create a pin for Pinterest.

Pinterest’s native pin design maker
Design software like Canva
Tailwind Create

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Creating high-converting Pinterest pins is possible once you know what Pinterest wants. Here's the anatomy of the perfect Pinterest pin design for 2024!

HOW DO YOU MAKE A PIN DESIGN ON PINTEREST?

To design a Pinterest pin with the native pin maker, you’ll click on ‘Create’ from the top menu bar then ‘Create Pin’. Once you’re in the native pin maker, you can add an image and then start adding text.

It’s fair to say that the graphic design options for the native pin maker are limited and not super easy to use.

Once you’ve designed your Pinterest pin and added your title and description, choose a board, click ‘Save’, and voilà you published your Pinterest pin design!

HOW DO YOU MAKE A PINTEREST PIN ON CANVA?

The second option to create a click-worthy Pinterest pin design is to use a design program like Canva. You can also use PicMonkey, Snappa, or any other graphic design software that you like, it works the same.

Canva provides templates for Pinterest pins that you can use and customize for your brand or you can start from scratch.

Create a new design
Upload an image
Add your text
Download to your computer

In order to upload it on Pinterest, you can either use the native pin maker that we talked about above or upload it to a scheduler like Tailwind.

With the native pin maker, you would upload the created images in the pin maker, add the title, description, and URL. Choose your board and click on ‘Save.’

It’s also where you upload your pins in “bulk” by clicking the ‘+’ in the top left corner. This is a HUGE time-saver for content creators that design multiple pins at a time.

With Tailwind*, you can upload the Pinterest pin design to Tailwind, add the title and description, choose your board and schedule it in your queue!

*If you’re new to the term Tailwind, it’s an automatic scheduler used by a lot of Pinterest users to schedule their pins ahead of time and have them automatically published on Pinterest.

HOW DO YOU MAKE A PINTEREST PIN USING TAILWIND?

The last option I want to talk about with you when it comes to making pins for Pinterest is to use Tailwind’s native pin maker: Tailwind Create! It’s like your very own Pinterest pin generator software.

With Tailwind Create, you can design plenty of pins straight in Tailwind.

Click on create, choose your designs, add your branding, and your text and choose a picture. Tailwind does the rest by creating multiple Pin designs for you.

You can choose your favorites and add them to your queue to be published or adjust them to your liking.

Canva and Tailwind are great options if you need some Pinterest pin design ideas since you can use templates and find inspiration right in the software.

Now that we saw three ways you could be making your pins for Pinterest, let’s review the different types of pins you can encounter on the platform before we go into how to design your Pinterest pins for clicks and traffic.

THE TWO TYPES OF PINTEREST PINS YOU CAN USE

Currently, you can create two different formats of Pinterest pins.

Standard pins: Been around since Pinterest first started
Idea pins: Rolled out last year (2021)

The difference between these two types of pins is that the standard Pinterest pin links outside of Pinterest (traffic to your website) and the Idea pins do NOT.

Both of these types of pins can be either static images or videos. And to add more confusion to the matter, you can also create Carousel pins which are still considered standard pins.

For Idea pins, they can be designed with multiple images but we call them “pages” and therefore, they’re not considered a Carousel pin.

SIDE NOTE: If you need help making sense of all these formats and learning how to use them in your Pinterest strategy, you can get my Pin Cheatsheet!

Luckily for us though, all the different Pinterest pins that I listed require somewhat of the same design tips to make sure we’re creating click-worthy and scroll-stopping Pinterest pin designs!

Let’s take a look at what makes a good pin on Pinterest!

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PIN ON PINTEREST?

If you’re wondering how to make an attractive Pinterest pin, this is where you want to pay attention! A Pinterest pin design that converts usually follows three main elements!

The right format and size for your images
Beautiful imagery and design
Keyworded text

Let’s look at the anatomy of a perfect Pinterest pin design!

WHAT PINTEREST PIN SIZE SHOULD YOU USE?

Yes, the size of your pins does matter. Your Pinterest pin should always be a vertical design.

Pinterest recommends a ⅔ ratio when it comes to creating your Pinterest pins. It means that it could be 600px x 900px or 1000px x 1500px for example.

If we’re talking about creating Idea pins, then Pinterest recommends the following ratio: 1080px x 1920px (they’re very similar to the size of Instagram Stories)

Keep in mind that even if Pinterest recommends using the vertical format, you could also experiment with the square ratio of 600px x 600px to see if your audience answers better to that format.

I would keep it to a minimum, though, because a vertical Pinterest pin design is easier to read for users on the mobile app.

CHOOSE BEAUTIFUL IMAGERY FOR YOUR BACKGROUND AND TASTEFUL DESIGN

Pinterest is a visual search engine so the images you choose to illustrate your pin do matter as much as the overall design of the Pinterest pins!

The pictures you choose should always be of high quality and related to the content of the Pinterest pins.

Pinterest can “find objects” on your image and associate it with keywords. If you choose a picture of a dog when your Pinterest pin is about a chocolate cake recipe, Pinterest won’t have much trust in your pin and won’t distribute it very much.

When it comes to the choice of your font, we want to make sure that you’re using fonts that are easy to read. Keep in mind that 80% of Pinterest users are on mobile devices!

If they can’t read your text, they won’t click on your pins. It’s that simple!

Handwritten fonts are beautiful but they should be used in moderation. Readability over cuteness, that’s what you’re shooting for!

The design of your pins in itself should highlight the most important part of your title, the piece of information that will make your audience think “yes, that’s exactly what I want to know, let me click on THAT pin!”

You want to make sure that your text pops up on your image so it’s easy to read and users know instantly what your pin is about. You can play around with different sizes of text and different fonts, underlining some part of the text that is important or using a different color like we did above.

The sky is the limit when it comes to creating your Pinterest pin design as long as you keep it easy to read!

The last design element we want to add is your branding!

BRANDING YOUR PINTEREST PIN DESIGN

It can be a simple logo or your website address as well as your branding colors. We simply want to make sure that we’re letting the users know where this pin is coming from. It’ll help with brand recognition and authority on the platform.

When it comes to your brand color, some businesses are very particular about their colors and won’t create Pinterest pins using other colors. But, it’s important to try things out.

Aim to create some Pinterest templates with your brand colors and some others using different colors.

The light blue/green (image 7) as well as the light orange (image 8) aren’t part of our brand.

You never know what will work best with your audience and that would be too bad to miss on a click because someone is not attracted to the colors you chose for your brand. (Yes, this happens!)

OPTIMIZE YOUR PINTEREST PIN DESIGN FOR SEO

We’re finishing our anatomy of the perfect Pinterest pin design with a key part: your keywords!

As we said earlier, Pinterest can read your image so they can extract keywords that help them categorize your content.

We want to make sure that these keywords are also appearing on the text of our pins! That’s where you can play with the size or the color of your text and make sure you’re highlighting those keywords for the users and for Pinterest!

And last but not least, make sure you’re using “calls to action” on your Pinterest pin design as well.

A call to action (or CTA) will help people take that next step! Tell them to “visit your website”, “read more on the blog”, or “download the free resource.”

The other part of your SEO will happen not on the design of your pins but in the title and the description that you will need to fill in before you publish it.

This is another important place where keywords should appear. Don’t keyword stuff, try to write two to three coherent sentences using keywords and describing what users can expect to find when they click on the pins.

WRAP UP

To summarize the perfect anatomy of a Pinterest pin design, you’ll need:

To create a vertical ⅔ ratio Pinterest pin
Use high-quality and relevant images for your background
Make sure your text is easy to read
Use a hierarchy to highlight the important information
Add your branding
Close with a strong call to action

Follow these Pinterest pin design tips and you’re on your way to creating some Pinterest magic!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Domitille is the founder of Mademoiselle Social. She helps service providers, online course creators and digital product owners create a sustainable and automatized marketing strategy to increase traffic to their offers and website using Pinterest as a top-of-funnel.

Get access to the Pin Cheatsheet & 50+ calls to action to create high-converting Pins on Pinterest & get clicks with my FREE Pinterest Pin Cheatsheet!

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS LATER? SAVE IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! ⬇

Gift Guide Template: How to Leverage Holidays to Grow Your List

October 27, 2021 by Simplifying DIY Design 5 Comments

Last updated on October 12th, 2023

Are you ready to leverage your holiday traffic with a holiday gift guide? Learn to create a Christmas gift guide or use our FREE done-for-you Canva gift guide template that’ll be sure to boost your blog’s traffic, email sign-ups, and affiliate income for the holidays!

Boost your holiday traffic with our FREE gift guide template! It’s the PERFECT compliment to all of your gift guide posts that’ll be sure to bring in more email sign-ups and affiliate revenue!

GET THE FREE GIFT GUIDE TEMPLATE!

Quarter four is the best time to grow any blog in ANY niche. Why?

Because everyone has at least one problem, they’re frantically trying to find a solution.

They’re overwhelmed, stressed to the absolute max, and are looking to start fresh with the new year.

On top of that, they’re already primed to buy, making selling much more effortless.

Regardless of niche, you NEED to take advantage of the endless growth opportunities this time of year.

Plus, it’ll grow your email list and blogging income in the process!

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS LATER? SAVE IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! ⬇

Table of Contents

1 Find your reader’s holiday-specific pain point
2 Use a gift guide to solve a problem
3 Other ways to use a gift guide for the holidays
4 How to ‘sell’ your solution
5 Put your gift guide out there
6 Use a gift guide to boost your income
7 Keeping it legal
8 Create your own gift guide template
9 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Find your reader’s holiday-specific pain point

Leading up to the holidays, many people are desperately looking for money-saving solutions specific to quarter four.

How to save money on holiday travel
Budget-friendly ways to decorate for the holidays
Host Christmas dinner on a tight budget

Some are looking for inexpensive gifts for the whole family. Others want ways to make a little extra for the holiday season.

Bottom line: You need to know your reader and their pain points. Then, get creative with how to sell them YOUR solution.

If you don’t know their pain points, listen up.

The key here is to build your audience first and the solution second. You’ll never know their pain points if you don’t know who you’re creating them for!

Take it back to the basics by asking them what they want. Survey them, hang out in their favorite Facebook groups, and see what they’re asking about.

Once you know your readers’ problem, then it’s time to brainstorm those holiday solutions!

That’s the whole point of knowing what your reader is struggling with, giving you the perfect opportunity to help them.

Solve their problem. Meet them on their level and fill that need.

Doing so will not only help your reader and help you establish a relationship with them, but it’ll help you grow your blog and set you up for a killer start to the new year.

By the way, if you need more help with this, check out our FREE Product Creation Training!

Use a gift guide to solve a problem

A holiday gift guide is a perfect way to leverage the holidays for blog growth. As mentioned earlier, people are looking for SOMETHING and are likely pretty stressed out about it.

For many shoppers, having to buy gifts for others is an unpleasant task.

It’s not even the money aspect of it. It’s thinking about what to get them AND hoping they like it.

So, why not make this easier for your readers and create a gift guide? Speaking of easy, save yourself boatloads of time with our FREE gift guide template!

Don’t be afraid to include some affiliate links, either. You still need to make a living, you know!

Our friend Lizzy makes over $100k/year using JUST affiliate marketing.

Other ways to use a gift guide for the holidays

Referencing our examples from earlier, you can still use a gift guide template to solve those specific pain points.

Here are a few examples to help you get in the creative mood!

Holiday travel: Recommend hotels that offer free nights or credit cards with great flight benefits
Holiday decorations: Recommend products you use like spray paint, glitter, or…
Christmas dinner: Link to tutorials (YouTube, blog, etc.) to boost ad/sponsored post income

You can even do something simple like a resource list.

Throw your own spin on it like, “The resources we used to pay off 30K in debt in just 1 year,” and you’ll be amazed at how well it converts. Especially with new year’s resolutions right around the corner!

That’s the beauty of templates. You can easily customize them to fit your needs over and over and over again.

And if a gift guide just isn’t your thing, there are other holiday printables you can whip up in no time, regardless of your blog’s niche.

Do NOT miss out on this major growth opportunity that’ll set your blog up for an amazing start to the new year. We’re sure there’s a holiday printable you can make for your specific audience!

Side note: If you want to promote multiple gift guides, you NEED our Holiday Gift Guide Bundle with 5 different styles (and 15 matching Pinterest pin templates) for just $27!

Now, keep in mind that creating a solution is only half the battle. You need to communicate it effectively so they opt-in to your email list.

How to ‘sell’ your solution

When promoting anything (from freebie to product or affiliate offer), you must hit your audience’s pain points and deliver the solution.

They hear this pain point and say, “oh, that’s me! I totally feel like that, and I hate that!”

Like, when you say to the stay-at-home-mom:

“I know you’re exhausted. You’re trying SO hard and feel like you’re just not good enough. You know you’re a great mom, but sometimes you feel like you can’t win. I get it. I’ve been there, and I hear you.”

Or, when you say to the blogger:

“I know you’re spinning your wheels. You’re sacrificing so much, but you’re just not getting it. You don’t see the results you want, and it feels like everyone is reaching success except you. I know you’re frustrated, burnt out, and ready to throw in the towel.”

Use copy like this to draw awareness to a problem and connect with your reader.

Now, can you tailor this to the holiday season? Absolutely!

“The holidays are coming. I know you’re spending your days cooking, cleaning, budgeting for gifts, preparing for (and entertaining) guests, and doing ALL the things without a single break. You’re busy, tired, and just need some rest. I’m going to give you that break.”

You mention the pain point, even getting a little personal to really hit it home. Then, you let them know you have the solution.

Put your gift guide out there

You have your holiday gift guide (hopefully, you used our gift guide template!) and copy ready to go. Now it’s time to put your gift guide out there for your audience to find (and sign up for).

Set up a simple squeeze page and write a blog post that promotes your gift guide as a content upgrade.

Design a few Pinterest pins that lead straight to the blog post AND freebie landing page.

Create a post for social media. Make a reel for IG and share it on your stories to cover all the algorithm bases.

You can even share it in Facebook groups and set up a paid ad promotion.

Get as many eyes on your gift guide as possible. Try to do it approximately 1-2 months before the actual holiday (depending on your audience).

Get our Holiday Gift Guide Bundle with 5 different gift guide styles (and 15 matching Pinterest pin templates) for just $27!

The whole point of your holiday gift guide is to get people onto your email list and not JUST over to your blog post.

Blog posts are great for traffic and should absolutely still be part of your strategy.

But, offering a printer-friendly (aka printable), more detailed version for someone to have handy in the gift-buying season can be a huge help.

All while growing your email list and supplementing your blog’s income with affiliate sales, of course!

Side note: We’re obsessed with the set-it-and-forget-it approach to affiliate marketing from the Lazy Guide to Affiliate Marketing. Elizabeth Goddard is a marketing genius, especially when it comes to affiliate sales!

The biggest benefit of using your gift guide as an opt-in is that you can access those subscribers after the holiday season.

This is when nurturing comes into play, so you can turn those subscribers into raving fans!

Use a gift guide to boost your income

A huge benefit to a holiday gift guide is its opportunity to grow your income. People sign up for gift guides because you’ve done the work for them when thinking of the perfect gift.

Or other gift guide-style examples that we chatted about earlier.

And it just so happens that they’ll be more likely to click on your affiliate links.

Not only are you solving your reader’s problems, but you’re also retaining them on your list for future growth and opening up the possibility for a nice Christmas bonus in affiliate or personal product income.

Another way to increase your income (and do so in an automated and passive way!) from a holiday gift guide is by creating a holiday or seasonal product offered as a tripwire.

Did you grab our FREE gift guide template? Click here to have it delivered to your inbox by the time you’re finished reading this post!

Lastly, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t chat about templates for a minute.

If you choose to design your own gift guide, be sure to save it as a gift guide template. This will save you so much time (which equals money!) when creating other seasonal gift guides for your blog.

Keeping it legal

If your gift guide includes affiliate links, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to keep your business legal.

#1: MOST affiliate programs approve the use of a PDF. But Amazon does NOT. When designing your gift guide, we recommend that you make a page on your blog with those product links.

HOT TIP: On the last page of your gift guide, include the link for that page. It’s a little loophole that’ll help you stay in Amazon’s good graces while still letting you earn affiliate income.

#2: Make sure your blog has a Terms & Condition page and a Privacy Policy page you can refer to in your affiliate disclaimer.

#3. Prominently post an affiliate disclaimer in your gift guide (as well as any blog posts that include an affiliate link), which then links back to your Terms & Condition/Privacy Policy pages.

We use The Contract Shop for ALL of our contracts and legal documents. We have enough to worry about running a successful six-figure business – legal jargon and protection are not on that list, thanks to their templates!

Create your own gift guide template

If you want to save time and get your gift guide out as quickly as possible, grab our free Canva gift guide template.

Swap with your holiday color palette and branded fonts. Then, add images of your promoted products using your gift guide.

Add descriptions of your products and any links (to include affiliates). Save it as a PDF and start promoting!

If you’re one of that DIY-type of business owners, you can easily create your own gift guide template using Canva.

Be sure your gift guide includes:

Beautiful cover page
Product page with all the products (and numbers) with a short description
2-3 pages of longer descriptions of each product
URL/link page to your holiday affiliate links page on your site

Get your holiday gift guide designed and out there so you can leverage the holidays for maximum blog growth!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab your FREE gift guide template! It’s the PERFECT compliment to all of your gift guide posts that’ll be sure to bring in more email sign-ups and affiliate revenue!

GET THE FREE GIFT GUIDE TEMPLATE!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that’ll cut your design time down to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every single design is put back into making MORE money in your business!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

How to use the holidays to boost your business and help your readers! PLUS a totally FREE (already designed for you) gift guide template!

Seasonal Lead Magnets | Holiday Freebies to Boost List Growth

October 25, 2021 by Simplifying DIY Design 3 Comments

Last updated on February 1st, 2024

Fourth-quarter is such a great time to boost your affiliate income and email sign-ups because your audience is primed to buy! Learn to create seasonal lead magnets that drive traffic to your blog for the holidays AND grow your email list at the same time!

Boost your holiday traffic with our FREE gift guide template! It’s the PERFECT compliment to all of your gift guide posts that’ll be sure to bring in more email sign-ups and affiliate revenue!

GET THE FREE GIFT GUIDE TEMPLATE!

Is it just us, or does it feel like the holiday season comes faster year after year?

You blink, and it’s already time to start planning (again) for gifts, Christmas dinner, the in-laws coming to visit, recitals, and plays…

While you may not be ready for the holidays, your blog must be because we all know that quarter-four matters!

Now, we get it. You’ve been busting your butt all year long to get closer to your big WHY.

It’s no wonder that quarter-four is when most bloggers get blogger-burnout.

We know you may not want to hear this, but this is the time to give your blog everything you’ve got.

People are ready to buy. Heck, they WANT to buy.

Use this momentum by creating seasonal lead magnets that compliment your holiday content to grow your email list and make money blogging!

The best part? You’ll set yourself up for a fantastic new year where you can spend less time behind the computer and still make more money than ever.

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS LATER? SAVE IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! ⬇

In fact, we know a lot of bloggers that take the entire month of December off.

Yes, the ENTIRE month! Talk about goals, huh?

Our goal for next year is to do the same because blogger burnout is very real, and it sucks.

What makes this worse is that it’s your livelihood! Getting burned out from your primary source of income is just NOT up for negotiation.

That’s why it’s so important to plan – the right way.

Now, what do we mean by that?

You can absolutely plan to take the entire month off and not have a single thing set up. You can miss out on holiday traffic, email sign-ups, and even product sales.

Or, you can have your holiday blog posts written and optimized, seasonal lead magnets to capture email addresses, and products ready for purchase.

If you plan right, quarter four can be a total game-changer for your blog.

This is the time of year that people have problems that need solving. They’re stressed and looking for answers. They’re motivated to make changes for the new year.

Not only will seasonal blog posts bring you tons of extra traffic, but perfectly-timed seasonal lead magnets can boost your email list and prepare you for a hot start to the new year.

Because even after the holidays are over (and you get back to your blog), those subscribers are still there, just waiting to be emailed by you!

So, let’s start planning the right way by creating seasonal lead magnets to pair with your brilliant holiday content.

Table of Contents

1 #1: Planners
2 #2: Challenges
3 #3: Gift Guides
4 #4: Checklists/Worksheets
5 #5: Templates
6 We’re totally serious when we tell you that the fourth quarter is a huge opportunity.
7 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

#1: Planners

Planners are the perfect way to leverage those new year’s resolutions because everyone wants to ‘plan’ to be better at something.

Think of the most common resolutions you hear about.

Lose weight
Get more organized
Save money

Planners hit all of those points because most have meal planning and budget sections in addition to the monthly and weekly planner layout.

You can also personalize this to your own niche by adding sections that your audience won’t be able to resist.

Planners also make great paid products, so another option is to pull out certain pages of your lead magnet and sell the complete planner as a tripwire.

If you want to save even more time, grab our FREE planner design worksheet to help you get off to the right start!

You can even create a couple of seasonal lead magnets (like a planner and challenge) that funnel together into a paid product.

#2: Challenges

Challenges are probably the most profitable of the seasonal lead magnets mentioned in this post.

First, they’re so easy to make. Using email automation, create a 5, 7, even 30-day email challenge that’s sent straight to their inbox.

Each day you’re giving your audience something of value whilst nurturing and priming them to buy at the same time.

Use this challenge as an opportunity to funnel your subscribers into your (related) paid product.

For example, a free 5-Day Healthy Living challenge could lead to a cookbook, workout program, meal planner, or 30-minute consultation.

Decluttering challenges are also huge this time of year. Use this to promote your book, eCourse, or product line.

Again, consider the most common resolutions people generally make. You can poll your Facebook group or email list to find out their own resolutions to help brainstorm the best seasonal lead magnets for your audience.

Design a challenge related to your niche to attract your target audience.

You’ll help your people and grow your list all at the same time.

#3: Gift Guides

A Christmas gift guide is a perfect opportunity to leverage the holidays and grow your bank of seasonal lead magnets.

Not only can you make a PDF-style gift guide and use it as an opt-in, but you can also use the opportunity to sell your own products or promote your affiliate links.

Growing your list, making money, AND helping your audience be more organized for their holiday shopping? Win-win-win.

Are you worried about the Amazon “no links in a PDF” rule?

Make a page on your blog that includes all your Amazon links with numbers that correspond to the gift guide
Add a section or page to your gift guide that says, “Want the links for these products? Visit www.yourblog.com/linksforholiday to check it out!”

That way, the link will go to your website and NOT Amazon.

Plus, you’re still getting them excited about the product in your gift guide without violating Amazon’s TOS. Most other affiliate programs approve the use of linked PDFs.

If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, we HIGHLY recommend the Lazy Guide to Affiliate Marketing by Elizabeth Goddard. It’s perfect for those of us that would rather set-it-and-forget-it approach than push regular sales on our readers!

#4: Checklists/Worksheets

Holiday checklists and worksheets make great seasonal lead magnets for those that want things quick yet impactful.

If you have a killer holiday recipe or full-on Christmas dinner blog post series, make a grocery checklist to help them get in and out of the store fast.

Maybe you blog about budgeting and have a heavily-monetized blog post that shares how you paid off $50k of debt in two years.

Budgeting is huge for quarter four because so many want to go into the new year with a debt-free plan. So, take advantage of that traffic by creating a budget worksheet that walks them through it.

Help your audience build confidence in you by actually implementing your process to success. Work on that know, like, and trust factor right from the get-go, which will lead to recurring sales!

#5: Templates

Our most profitable quarter is hands down Q4. Our template sales go through the roof because, like all other resolutions, bloggers want to grow year after year.

They want:

To specifically leverage our holiday traffic, we designed two seasonal lead magnets to go with our holiday blog posts that both funnel into our paid holiday products.

See what we did there?

We built a holiday sales funnel that starts with a seasonal blog post –> seasonal lead magnet –> seasonal paid product using ConvertKit’s email automation.

Now, even if your niche isn’t blogging, you can still create seasonal templates to boost your Q4 sales.

Holiday tag templates for gifts, letter writing templates for kids – the sky’s the limit with niche-specific templates!

Or, keep it generalized with planner and calendar templates.

Templates make great additions to your seasonal lead magnets regardless of niche because they can be used over and over again. This makes them incredibly popular for those who want to cut down on single-use waste.

We’re totally serious when we tell you that the fourth quarter is a huge opportunity.

Not only when it comes to traffic but for income and growing your list. Never forget that the money is in the list.

That’s why we talk about list growth from the very beginning as often as we can!

Plus, when you plan out your seasonal lead magnets ahead of time, you can set yourself up for some awesome passive income while taking December off.

If you’re still unsure which seasonal lead magnets are right for you, check out these popular niche-specific holiday printables.

Blogging IS a rollercoaster; there’s just no other way around it. We’d be surprised if it didn’t send you through all the emotions in just one day.

Blogger burnout is no joke; we don’t want you to give up. Keep pushing through, friend. All your hard work and sacrifices WILL pay off, and it’ll be oh-so-worth-it.

To help get you there, pick one of these seasonal lead magnets and start making it happen! You’ll be surprised at the energy boost a successful holiday opt-in can give you!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab your FREE gift guide template! It’s the PERFECT compliment to all of your gift guide posts that’ll be sure to bring in more email sign-ups and affiliate revenue!

GET THE FREE GIFT GUIDE TEMPLATE!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that’ll cut your design time down to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every single design is put back into making MORE money in your business!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

20 Tools I Use To Run a Six Figure Blog

August 20, 2021 by Simplifying DIY Design 1 Comment

Last updated on February 1st, 2024

The tools you used to start a blog may be limiting your blog’s growth. Here are the exact tools we use as a six-figure blog and WHY they’re essential to the growth of our blog.

Having a new blog versus a seasoned blog are two VERY different things.

The things we focused on as a brand new blogger are vastly different than what we’re focusing on now as a six-figure blog (with multiple team members!).

When you’re just starting out, it’s all about what you can afford and what tools you *think* you’ll need.

But as your blog grows, so does your experience as a blogger. You realize what you need more of and what you could do without.

Ready to grow your email list? Get our FREE Lead Magnet Template Pack! These fully editable Canva templates will be the perfect upgrade to your blog posts!

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You’ll realize what was a complete waste of time (and money) and what should be at the center of your day.

Another thing you’ll soon realize is how quickly technology can change.

Some of the tools we used to start a blog are now vastly outdated, and others we outgrew as we scaled our blog.

Stagnation is death.

Although somewhat dark, that quote couldn’t hold more truth if it tried.

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You need to constantly find ways to improve your blog in order to grow.

Don’t let a tool hold you back from increasing your blog traffic or even making more money with your digital products.

Related Post: The Best Blogging Tools for BEGINNERS

Some of the blogging tools we invested in to help scale our blog to a six-figure income were on complete faith.

Did we have a guarantee it’ll work? Nope. Was it scary spending almost $400 on a single blogging tool? YOU BET.

Was it worth it? Every. Single. Penny.

Here are the exact tools we use as a six-figure blog and WHY.

Table of Contents

1 WEBSITE
2 LIST BUILDING
3 PRODUCTS + SALES
4 TASK + TEAM MANAGEMENT
5 PINTEREST + SOCIAL MEDIA
6 CREATIVE NEEDS
7 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:
8 TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

WEBSITE

WORDPRESS THEME – $0

We launched Simplifying DIY Design with a custom theme from Pixel Me Designs. Even our rebrand a few years later was done by Pixel Me Designs.

Does that mean your blog needs a custom theme? Absolutely not.

If there wasn’t a way for us to swing the cost of a custom theme, we would’ve gone with the FREE Kadence WP theme.

In fact, a few incredibly successful blogs (we’re talking multiple six figures annually) still use the Kadence WP theme because of its ease of use and SEO benefits.

WEB HOSTING – $4.99/mo

Cheap web hosting can be VERY enticing as a beginner blogger, but you’ll end up paying for it in the long haul.

We’re so thankful we launched Simplifying DIY Design with SiteGround because as our site grew (pretty fast, by the way!), we never ran into a single issue, unlike BlueHost…

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SiteGround is a great option for beginner bloggers with very little traffic to expert bloggers with hundreds of thousands of pageviews a month.

Top-rated web hosting is definitely something to think about as you scale your blog. Look for excellent customer service, fast load times, room to grow, and ease of use.

LANDING PAGES – 40% OFF first THREE months

Our landing pages have changed so much over the years.

We were using Thrive Architect to start because, at the time, it was an affordable one-time cost. But, it got clunky and difficult to use.

We ended up taking the leap and signing up for LeadPages. At first glance, it can be a little pricey.

But it was a no-brainer for us when you compare the features and ease of use (that’s a common theme in this blog post!) with its simple drag-and-drop page-building interface.

Our landing pages look great on ALL platforms and are so easy to customize. We love that it integrates with ConvertKit, too; no need for Zapier!

We’ve noticed an increase in conversions since making the change from Thrive Architect to LeadPages, covering the monthly cost (and then some!).

LIST BUILDING

EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER – $9/mo

We could write a whole post on why you need an excellent email service provider as a blogger; it’s THAT important.

No matter what happens to social media (algorithm changes, downed sites, accounts closed, etc.), you will always own your email list.

The bulk of our income comes from email marketing and sales funnels. We’re averaging a 47% open rate for our weekly newsletter. If you didn’t know, the average is about 20%!

ConvertKit was a non-negotiable from the very beginning, and we’ve never switched or moved away from it.

We know it’s always working just as hard as us, and the customer service is seriously top-notch.

As you scale your blogging business, be sure to take advantage of:

TAGS: Great for tracking and segmenting based on interests, purchases, etc.
VISUAL AUTOMATIONS: Create personalized funnels based on subscriber actions, events, etc.
DATA: Know what’s working to more of it or optimize to improve your numbers

ConvertKit has SO much to offer, whether you’re a beginner blogger or an expert. It grows with your business, so you’ll never have to migrate to another email service provider.

It’s hands down our absolute favorite tool we use in your blogging business. Well, aside from Canva!

PRODUCTS + SALES

PRODUCT HOSTING – $39/MO

In order to make money, you have to spend money. There’s just no other way around it.

That said, we tried to switch from Teachable to another course platform that was cheaper, but it didn’t last long.

It’s more important when growing a business to have tools that work well and do the things you NEED versus saving a few dollars.

Even as a six-figure business, we still use and love Teachable to host all of our products. But there’s one thing we love even more; sales funnels.

As you scale your blogging business, you must continuously optimize your checkout processes (part of your sales funnels).

We’ve heard amazing things about ThriveCart and thought it was the perfect time to try it.

CHECKOUT PAGES – ONE PAYMENT OF $495

We’re so glad we swapped Teachable’s basic checkout pages to ThriveCart’s multi-level funnel process.

Not only is ThriveCart so easy to use, it’s robust and integrates with all the tools we were already using in our business. (We’re talking ConvertKit, PayPal, Stripe, etc.)

We were so impressed that we ended up moving our affiliate program over to ThriveCart.

Because it auto-applies affiliates to certain coupon codes, it opens up so many collaboration opportunities for us both!

What we love most about ThriveCart is the ability to completely customize the checkout page using their drag-and-drop page builder.

You can even test different designs and layouts, add order bumps, upsells, testimonials, create page templates to save loads of time, create custom coupon codes – the works!

And yes, you can still use Stripe AND PayPal (integrated with ThriveCart) for payment processing.

CHATBOT – $0

The more your blogging business grows, the more messages and emails will come your way.

One way to help combat inbox overload is by incorporating a Messenger chatbot using ManyChat on our sales pages.

We built several chat funnels specific to certain pages that answer common customer service issues and direct people to products that fit their needs.

Even our Black Friday sales page has its own Messenger chat funnel, so we can jump in and answer any time-sensitive inquiries.

TASK + TEAM MANAGEMENT

TEAM COMMUNICATION – $0

If you’re not familiar with Slack, it’s essentially organized instant messaging.

We have different channels for different things, so all of our communication is always readily available. It’s much more efficient than emailing or texting back and forth.

Too many things were getting lost and overlooked; not good for growing business!

We also have a channel for brainstorming and admin requests with our ManyChat chatbot.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT – $0

We switched from Trello to Asana about three years after we launched Simplifying DIY Design, and we’re SO glad we made the move.

It’s hard to describe quite how amazing Asana is, but once you get into bigger projects, you’re going to need Asana (or something similar such as AirTable or Clickup).

Related Post: How to Set Achievable Blogging Goals

We can easily assign each other different tasks and due dates and make quick notes to keep everyone in the loop. The best part is the simple color-coded system!

You can also view each project as a board (like Trello), list view, or calendar view.

It’s beyond amazing and really deserves more than a few paragraphs, but you get the idea.

PINTEREST + SOCIAL MEDIA

CANVA TEMPLATES – $0

We can, without a doubt, attribute the success of our blog to our consistently branded and eye-catching designs.

99% of the visuals we use throughout our blog are the same Canva templates we sell in our shop.

Once you add in your own brand colors, fonts, and graphics, it’ll look like a completely different design.

Another added benefit of using design templates is the time you’ll save.

We can crank out at least 10 Pinterest graphics in just a few minutes, giving us more time to focus on high-ROI tasks.

All of that to say, you don’t need to hire a professional designer just because you want to scale your blogging business.

We grew our blog into a six-figure business by using the same Canva templates our customers use.

Work smarter, not harder. We’re our own case study to back up that (very accurate) statement!

PINTEREST SCHEDULER – $15/MO

For social media, we’re still using Facebook’s native scheduler for both Facebook and Instagram.

We don’t see why you should pay for a program that’s offered for free to literally do the same thing.

Now, Pinterest is totally different.

We’ll happily pay the $15/mo to schedule our Pinterest graphics using Tailwind versus the free “scheduler” provided by Pinterest.

The biggest reason for that is time. Pinterest’s native scheduler is way, WAY too time-consuming.

As a growing business, you need to focus your time on where it matters most. Scheduling pins directly in Pinterest is not a good use of your time.

CREATIVE NEEDS

DESIGN PLATFORM – $14.99/MO

While I am never going to be someone that says you *need* to do or use something specific to be successful (how silly!!) I personally use Canva Pro.

Canva Pro has features that I can’t function without at this point like the ability to have as many folders as I want (and subfolders), downloading with a transparent background, having options for size and quality at download, etc.

They are adding more and more every day. If you’re looking for more help with Canva, check out Confidently Canva which teaches ALL about Canva and how to use all the features for a blogging business in addition to teaching you how to use it to create social media graphics and page designs for things like lead magnets and digital products.

The tools we used to grow our blog into a six-figure income will NOT work for everyone.

FIND WHAT BLOGGING BUSINESS TOOLS WORK BEST FOR YOU!

We firmly believe it’s important to simplify your business while helping it run more smoothly for both you and your customers.

This won’t be something you can set and forget.

Technology is always improving, especially when direct competition is involved. We knew some of the tools we used to START Simplifying DIY Design were no longer relevant.

If we never checked the numbers, we would’ve never known we were missing out on sales simply because of the outdated tools we were using.

Always check your tools. We cannot stress that enough!

Another BIG takeaway that we were a little stubborn with was change can be a good thing!

We know you may be set in your ways over a certain tool (we certainly were!), but if there’s something better, you NEED to consider your options.

Yes, moving everything over or learning how the new tool works may require a little extra work.

But if that tool will increase your revenue or help save time in the long run, why deny yourself success?

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab our FREE lead magnet template pack! These fully editable Canva templates will help you create amazing freebies that build trust, so they’re ready to buy!

GET THE FREE TEMPLATES NOW!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that cut your design time to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $14.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every design is put back into making MORE money in our business!

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12 Hot Digital Products | Create + Monetize with E-products

August 19, 2021 by Simplifying DIY Design 9 Comments

Last updated on April 21st, 2024

Digital products are exactly how we make 80-90% of our full-time blogging income. The best part? It’s completely PASSIVE once you get your product created! Find exactly what product to make for your blog AND grab our free ebook template to make it happen!

Ready to grow your email list? Get our FREE Lead Magnet Template Pack! Create high-converting lead magnets AND promotional graphics for lightning-speed list growth!

GET FREE TEMPLATES NOW!

The very first monetization course we took was about five minutes after we started a blog.

We always knew we wanted our blog to be a business. As it was, we started blogging in order to generate income from home.

The person teaching the course was all about “products, products, products.”

Of course, not knowing anything about the online world, our minds went to “physical products,” not digital products.

Thus started the Etsy shop.

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Learn how you can do the work once and get paid over and over! Digital products are an amazing way to create passive income for your blog and start making money online fast even without a ton of pageviews! #digitalproducts #passiveincome #eproducts #designproducts #designdigitalproducts

Our Etsy shop was both a success and a failure. People liked and bought our stuff; however, each product needed to be individually sewn and assembled.

We sold things like military-inspired blankets, dog collars, keychains, etc. They were embroidered and would take us anywhere from an hour to a day to create.

The orders piled up, and soon, we had a two-week waitlist. We were spending almost ALL of our time at the sewing machine, cursing at it and getting frustrated.

We hated it. We quickly decided this wasn’t for us and needed a way to generate a more passive income.

Table of Contents

1 AND THEN WE LEARNED ABOUT DIGITAL PRODUCTS.
2 OF COURSE, HAVING AN IDEA FOR DIGITAL PRODUCTS IS ONE THING.
3 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

AND THEN WE LEARNED ABOUT DIGITAL PRODUCTS.

Digital products can be a hit or miss, especially for bloggers. Luckily, they cost almost nothing to make (especially when you design them yourself using Canva).

The key is to build your audience first and your product second.

Ask them what they want, survey them, hang out in Facebook groups where they ask questions, and keep a running list of reader questions/concerns.

Once you know your readers’ problem, then it’s time to brainstorm solutions.

If you do that, they’ll buy it. And if you design it where it’s visually appealing and easy to use… You’ve hit the jackpot.

By the way, if you need more help with this, check out our FREE Product Creation Training!

Now, let’s jump right into the 12 best digital products (that sell like hotcakes)!

1. WORKBOOKS

Workbooks work for almost every niche. There is something you can teach your audience that can be stepped out into a workbook. Take a moment to brainstorm!

We’ve seen everything from cleaning and organizing to budgeting and finances. We’ve even seen a workbook on parenting techniques and getting your child to listen (cool, right?).

Related Post: How to Design a Workbook in Canva

Workbooks sell because it’s a step-by-step way of teaching that walks someone through the process of solving their problem. We’re workbook junkies. Show us a Pinterest-pretty workbook, and we’ll buy it.

Can you not commit to a full workbook just yet? Don’t worry—we have you covered with another hot digital product idea!

Start small by creating worksheets using our FREE Lead Magnet Template Pack!

Worksheets were one of our very first digital products/lead magnets, which we used to grow our email list to over 20k subscribers!

2. WORKSHOPS

Workshops are a combination of workbooks and e-courses (actually, a combination of both). They are interactive e-courses that include worksheets and other learning materials.

The selling point of the “workshop” is that the person is able to interact with you and other students, rather than an e-course which is self-paced and usually through a program like Teachable.

Related Post: How To Sell Tons of Courses on Teachable

Workshops are not generally held all the time because the creator needs to be involved. However, when a course is not constantly open for enrollment, it builds suspense and urgency, and people are more likely to jump on it when it opens.

Another amazing thing about workshops is that you don’t spend nearly as much time “creating” them. Full e-courses can take months to build.

If you decide to sell a workshop, you can spend about an hour outlining what you’ll cover in the class and set up a sales page. That’s it!

The “product” is created when you spend the 1-2 hours teaching, and then you’re done!

3. PLANNERS

People love planners, and there are so many ways to use them. You can create a life planner, budget planner, organizational planner, chore planner, meal planner, etc.

QUICK TIP: Create multiple themed planners and then give people the option to purchase multiple ones! That way, they can essentially “customize” their planner by having the sections they need, and you can get repeat sales!

Once you have a few planner options, you can also offer bundles at a lower cost.

Planners also make fantastic digital products. Again, show us a Pinterest-pretty planner, and we’re in!

4. E-COURSES

E-courses are so popular because they help your readers learn something and also create a passive income for you. They can be created for free through email or through a platform like Teachable (just like us!).

When you create an e-course through a platform, you can set up an affiliate program and get people to promote your course for free. E-courses generally take more time to make than other digital products but can be sold for 3, 4, or even 5 figures!

The best e-courses also have worksheets, checklists, and video content as well. Take the time to make your course awesome; it will pay off.

SIDE NOTE: Grab our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit with a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva eBook template to help you plan, design, and launch your first (or next) digital product!

5. E-BOOKS

E-books are a great tripwire product, opt-in, or digital product. You can sell it through your blog using Payhip, Etsy, or even through ConvertKit Commerce!

E-books are pretty easy to make because you can repurpose a lot of your existing content, particularly if you have a blog post series or a lot of posts on ONE topic.

The key to a bestselling e-book is a killer cover, which we review (and SO much more!) in our COMPLETE Canva course, Confidently Canva.

You’ll learn everything there is to know about Canva so you can feel completely confident in your designs because now you truly understand the tool you’re using and the design concepts involved.

Enroll now and get $20 off Confidently Canva today!

You can make an awesome cover in Canva, upload it to myecovermaker.com, and create an eye-catching 3D model. They say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but people totally do, especially online.

6. MEMBERSHIP SITES

Membership sites are fantastic for recurring income. The possibilities for membership sites are pretty endless.

Maybe you’re a fitness blogger? Create a membership site that provides different workout routines, meal plans, and accountability meetings each month.

Maybe you sell sewing patterns? Each month you can release a new set of patterns for your members. The list can go on and on.

SIDE NOTE: Join our FREE Facebook community to help brainstorm membership ideas for your digital products!

Some memberships are less about “new product” deliver and more about community and interaction. Many include weekly or monthly meetings; some have support groups, and others have challenges.

You can really get creative with it! Each month, you can release a new set of patterns for your members.

7. COACHING SESSIONS

Coaching is less “passive” than most other digital products. It does involve time with your client, but it allows for individualization and a personalized approach for your customer, which is a major selling point.

Plus, much like selling digital workshops, coaching doesn’t require actually creating anything ahead of time!

The “product” is the time you spend with your client, so there’s really not much to do prior except setting up a sales page and possibly an onboarding system to allow your client to sign contracts, book appointments, and pay.

SIDE NOTE: Before we retired our design coaching service, we used and loved Dubsado!

Each person learns differently and is at a different point in their journey. Allowing a set amount of time to talk about where your client is, where they want to be, and how to get it is priceless.

Not to mention, many people are willing to pay higher price points for this.

8. APPS

You do NOT need to be an app developer to create an app.

All you need is a killer idea. You can hire an app developer to create it for you (find one on upwork.com), and then you can sell it.

Another way to make money with apps is to treat them as their own sales funnel by offering them for free and offering an upgraded paid version or in-app purchases.

This is the least popular out of all the digital products we mentioned, but the upsells within the app will pay off!

9. TEMPLATES

If creating digital templates to sell sounds like your cup of tea, you’re in the right place.

“Done for you” solutions are always a big hit! Especially anything that has to do with copy, spreadsheets (with formulas), etc.

Templates are essentially fill-in-the-blank mini-products that someone can customize to make their own. It gives them a jumping-off point and saves them a ton of time (like our templates)!

Our biggest source of income has always been selling digital templates. Because they’re entirely customizable, they work for every niche.

In fact, our first product launch made over $10k in sales with an email list of only 2,077 subscribers. Design templates SELL! Check out our Complete Blogger Template Toolkit to see why!

However, we want to make one thing abundantly clear: If you sell Canva templates, you must abide by Canva’s Content License Agreement.

There are some major legal dos and do n’ts regarding Canva templates. Don’t break their agreement just because you’re trying to make money with your blog!

It would behoove you to READ THIS ARTICLE FIRST before you start creating and selling your Canva templates.

In addition to graphic design products to sell, copy templates, spreadsheet templates, and many other versions of templates can easily be shared via Google Docs.

Ensure the Doc or spreadsheet is in view-only mode and instruct people to make a copy before editing.

10. PATTERNS

Typically, this is more for the craft niche. Sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc. These patterns are awesome digital products, and they totally sell like hotcakes. People love them!

Not to mention, things like these make great tripwires, bundles, and opportunities for a membership site.

In our opinion, though, patterns fall under an “instructional format” digital product.

This can include recipes, DIY projects, and anything else that requires a list of needed items and then step-by-step instructions.

You’re essentially teaching someone how to create something, and it’s amazing!

11. DOWNLOADABLE FILES

If you know how to create files like fonts, embroidery art, clip art, stock photography, etc., then you have it made, friend.

People, especially bloggers or content creators, pay good money for things like this!

Plus, you can sell it on your own site along with sites like Creative Market (entirely digital products) or Etsy. If you do stock photography, sell it to the major stock photo sites and boost your income even more!

Of course, these things are also great to sell to clients as well. Selling to clients requires a little more “time for money” than other digital products.

However, you can sell it at a much higher price point!

12. SWIPE FILES

People love to know how you did it! Swipe files (you can create one in Google Drive) that include your exact copy for sales pages, launches, emails, etc.

The idea is that they will personalize it to their own style of writing that fits their product (similar to a template), but you are giving them direction.

It’s a huge bonus if you’ve had success. If you say something like “the sales copy that made me $10,000 in 3 days,” you are guaranteed to make sales.

The benefit of this is that you’ve already created it; you’re just packaging it up and selling it. The downside is that you may be exposing yourself to copycats.

Realistically, that’ll happen with all digital products. Be sure to make your Terms of Service very clear!

OF COURSE, HAVING AN IDEA FOR DIGITAL PRODUCTS IS ONE THING.

But knowing how to make it is another.

Most of these things can be made or designed in something like Canva (you can also grab our FREE Product Design Planner to help you get started).

It doesn’t take a fancy, expensive product to make digital products sell. It just takes an eye-catching design that stands out among all the other things fighting for your audience’s attention.

Once they buy it, your amazing content will keep them coming back for more.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Lead Magnet Template Pack! These fully editable Canva templates will help you create lead magnets that build trust so they’re ready to buy!

GET FREE TEMPLATES NOW!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that’ll cut your design time down to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $14.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every single design is put back into making MORE money in our business!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

Design a Workbook in Canva Easily | Full Tutorial + Video

July 19, 2021 by Simplifying DIY Design 1 Comment

Last updated on April 20th, 2024

Workbooks are so popular because they’re great as a lead magnet or paid digital product. Check out this full tutorial on how to design a workbook in Canva (the easy way) and start growing your email list!

Ready to design a workbook AND launch it? Get our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit today! You’ll get a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva design template to help you nail your launch!

GET THE FREE PRODUCT QUICKSTART KIT NOW!

It’s no secret product creation is where it’s at! It’s a one-and-done thing (for the most part), and it brings in consistent revenue month after month.

But it’s way easier said than done.

Ever wonder how so many people are able to create a jaw-dropping Canva workbook? Or, how do they make them at all?

Well, product creation is one of the things we cannot get enough of. It’s our jam, and we’re fine with that because we get to show you exactly how you can do it, too!

The very first workbook we designed was for a client with a VERY large audience. This was before we realized the power of digital products!

She created a very long, 60+ page workbook, and she totally rocked the launch.

REMEMBER THIS POST LATER! PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! ⬇

If you're a blogger that is making Digital products or lead magnets then you won't want to miss this post! Find out exactly how to design a workbook in Canva- it's so much easier than I thought!!

Now, we were a bit nervous. We had just started dusting off our graphic design skills; all we had to work with was Canva.

It probably took us over a month to design a workbook between the design, the edits, the testing of usability, even more edits, etc.

But our jaws almost hit the floor when we read her income reports shortly after. Want to take a guess at what they were?

She generated 6 figures from this workbook in the 3 months after the launch. WOW! She seriously rocked it!

WHY DESIGN A WORKBOOK IN CANVA?

It has been said before, and we’re going to say it again: Product creation is a MUST if you want to go from blog to business.

Workbooks, ebooks, courses—you name it. Product creation is the best way to monetize your blog and earn recurring income.

Here are some key points to remember:

Have a solid audience in place to survey and find out what they want and need
Determine the best learning method, whether writing (workbook), watching (video), etc.
Don’t just launch it and let it go – Turn it into a tripwire or add an email funnel so it’s still making you money after the launch

SIDE NOTE: Our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit will list out all the things you need to do before launching a digital product!

So today, we wanted to do a tutorial about creating a product (specifically, a workbook). The thing is, we know this is kind of a “giving too much away for free” type of video, but we don’t really care.

We started this site to help you learn, and that’s what we will do.

Here are the nuts and bolts of it: (make sure to watch the video at the top to see how it’s done!)

START WITH A COVER DESIGN

Whether we like it or not, people judge a book by its cover. Your cover design should be used in product mockups for Pinterest, social media posts, landing pages, the works.

You’ll use it to promote your workbook because it gives your audience an idea of what they’ll get in exchange for an email or credit card.

With that said, your workbook cover design needs to be strategically thought out.

It’s the difference between your reader saying, “YES, I need this!” and “Not even worth my email address.”

Busy covers create overwhelm, so keep it simple – white space is your friend
They say, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but people do it literally all the time
Minimal is best, even if you have a colorful, busy brand like ours, so keep it professional and clean
Stick with your brand colors and fonts to maintain brand consistency

When you design a workbook or other digital product, it’s important to choose the style that you want to carry throughout the workbook.

Remember, to keep your Canva workbook’s look consistent with your brand for a more organized and cohesive feel.

When we design a workbook, we often start by outlining all our sections and what is going on in those sections. This is helpful when it’s time to plan the layout of each page.

You can do this in something like Google Docs or whatever program you use for your content creation.

Use the same layout and style throughout the book and decide whether to add page numbers.

For example, planners may not need page numbers because people might print multiple copies of one page.

Workbooks may need page numbers because the order is important. What if someone prints it, and the pages get out of order? Instant frustration!

If the thought of designing a workbook from scratch has you sweating bullets, not to worry, friend. Our Canva workbook templates in the Design Shop offer the perfect solution to blank page paralysis.

Just swap out your colors, fonts (optional), and text. That’s it!

We also cover in-depth how to design your very own printables in our COMPLETE Canva course, Confidently Canva!

You’ll learn everything there is to know about Canva so you can feel completely confident in your designs because now you truly understand the tool you’re using and the design concepts involved.

Enroll now and get $20 off Confidently Canva today!

START CREATING YOUR WORKBOOK LAYOUT DESIGN

After you add your border, header, and any subtitles you might have, it’s time to start laying it out.

As we said, we generally try to map this out on a large piece of paper prior to putting it on the screen. Be sure to use a pencil for this step because you may need to erase and adjust as you go.

It’s much easier to determine how things are positioned on paper rather than on the screen.

We’re a big-picture type of group!

You can use shapes to create a writing space for people to ask questions. You can also use bullet points or checkboxes to help organize the space your potential customers will fill out.

Here are a few examples of some VERY different page layouts we’ve created over the years.

Since the start of Simplifying DIY Design, we have created over 100 Canva workbook designs, and we can confidently say there is no right or wrong design layout.

It depends on what your workbook will teach your audience and their particular learning style.

If your Canva workbook has check or text boxes, we recommend converting it into an editable workbook.

That way, your readers can fill it out, whether printed or kept digital. Little convenient details like this will continue to build trust and credibility with your audience.

CREATE A FUNNEL WITH YOUR CANVA WORKBOOK

Did you notice the QR code on the last page of our workbook template shown above?

That little element bridges the gap between products, thus creating a funnel.

Have you ever…

Bought a product (whether it’s a workbook, course, etc.) from a brand you trust
Implement the steps taught in the product
Want to continue the learning process but don’t know which product to buy next?

This has happened to us so many times, and we found it to be a bit frustrating.

We created every product in our Design Shop to build on one another. But we noticed an influx of emails all saying the same thing.

“I have (product XYZ) but don’t know which product to buy next!”

Now, let us preface that we do NOT mind chatting with our readers via email and Messenger.

But can you imagine the number of readers who are NOT emailing and messaging us who have this same question? That’s sales we’re missing out on!

To remedy this situation, add a QR code to your workbooks, printables, ebooks, etc., to continue your product funnel.

When your reader scans the code, they’ll know the next product you recommend. Send them to a sales page, checkout page, or even something as simple as a blog post that you have monetized.

All in all, workbooks are a great lead magnet or even paid digital product. You can design a workbook from scratch or use a design template to make the creation process even easier (and faster).

And don’t stress; there isn’t a right or wrong way to design a workbook! You’ve got this, friend.

If you have questions on how to copy and paste in Canva, merge Canva designs, Canva keyboard shortcuts, and exceed the 300-page limit, check out our top 7 Canva design tips!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

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